The present invention relates to a system for remotely triggering release of a target, such as from a skeet or trap target launcher, by voice command of a shooter.
In the sport of skeet or trap shooting, clay targets are remotely launched from launching machines. To trigger a launch, a shooter calls the word "pull" to a person who holds the target launch control switches. That person is called a "puller". In response to hearing the word "pull", the "puller" hits the appropriate button for launching the clay targets which the shooter attempts to shoot down in the air, from various shooting stations.
The "puller" controls the launch of targets with a switching mechanism terminating a hardwired cable connected to the target launching mechanisms. The switching mechanism for a skeet range usually has three push button switches: one for the high house target; one for the low house target; and one for doubles (a high house target and a low house target launched at the substantially the same time).
In skeet and trap, there must be a "puller" to launch the targets for the shooters. To overcome the need for a "puller", remote control systems have been developed which respond to the shooter's voice command. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,981 to Nelsen. This patent discloses a voice controlled target release system in which a microphone is provided for each shooter, which microphone is connected to electronic circuitry for detecting a shooter's voice command and which is hardwired connected to the target launching machine.
In addition, improvements have been made in which the hardwire connection between the puller and the target launching machine is eliminated. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,199 to Hartness discloses a radio controlled trap shooting apparatus including a multichannel radio transmitter mounted on a scoring board and a fixed multichannel radio receiver, which receives selected signals from the transmitter. The transmitter is not voice activated, but is, rather, push button activated by a puller who is not the shooter. Distinct buttons are provided for the high house, low house and double targets. A unique transmission channel is provided for each of these targets.
Other improvements have been made to trap shooting ranges in which voice calls may be detected from each of the shooting stations at which a microphone is provided. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,749 to Ylonen.
There are deficiencies in these systems. It is not unusual for launching machines to break a target upon launching. The prior art systems do not provide for permitting a shooter to relaunch a target at a particular station, by voice command, and then return to the next target in the sequence. The puller keeps track of the sequence in these prior systems and, thus, these systems are not designed for use by a single person. Such is the case for the device of the Hartness patent. The puller simply presses the appropriate button to release the target(s) again.
It is desirable that a shooter be able to do his/her own pulling often because the shooter has nobody to accompany him/her to the range to do the pulling. This is the case in order to shoot a round of skeet or to practice movements at each shooting station for each target. Therefore, a remote release mechanism is needed which is unobtrusive and requires virtually no disruption of a shooter's rhythm.
However, when the shooter does his/her own pulling, and preferably by radio control, the situation becomes more complicated. It is necessary for some part of the system to remember the position in the sequence when a relaunch of a target is desired, for repeated practice or whatever reason. The normal hooting sequence must be returned to without loosing track of the targets to be launched.